How To Clean Brass

how to clean brass, brass lamps, brass laterns

I found these brass lamps at one of my flea market/junk excursions.  I loved the shape and they had the original globes, which I thought was pretty cool. The price was $4.00 for both.  I scooped them up without any thought as to how I would use them. Finding junk and repurposing it is one of my great loves.  My initial thought was to spray paint them white, but the more I looked at them the more I wanted to keep them as original as possible. 

They needed a good cleaning.  I didn’t have any brass cleaner on hand so I resorted to an old remedy, ketchup.  Yes I said ketchup.  I gathered the following items:

1.  newspaper
2.  old tooth brush
3.  Ketchup
4.  soft cloth

how to cleaner brass, brass clean

I brushed a light covering of ketchup over the lamps and allowed them to sit for an hour while I did some other cleaning.  After an hour, I brushed the lamps with the toothbrush to loosen any dirt and than washed them off with warm soapy water.  I allowed them to dry and than polished them with a soft cloth. 

brass cleaner, how to clean brass, ketchup
I was pleased with the end result.  Now I need to figure out how I’m going to use them.  Stay tuned for that project. Have you used ketchup to clean brass  or brass plated items your home?   

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  1. Ketchup? Who knew! While I don’t have much brass to clean it is good to know!

    • Rhonda Gales says

      Ketchup, I know right. I was amazed how well it worked.  Now I just need to figure out how I’m going to use the lamps, lol.